" I said to someone today—Sandra Greene, a woman reporter for the Salibury Post—in front of China Grove school; that the experiences on the Harmony Run are so different, that there is no pattern for how your day will be. Really charming sometimes, you can get lost, or you can run for miles through green calm hills, with no people around and only the road is ahead and the rainy clouds above and then in fifteen minutes time you can make friends with someone, making a wish for world harmony with the torch. Later on you run into a playground and there the same torch who accompanied you in the lonely run is giving such inspiration and smiles to one, two, three ... a whole school of children.

The torch lights the hope on the road, on the faces and in the hearts.

Today a group of 8 runners joined us between Sailsbury and China Grove on a long eight mile run with the torch. I think these were some of the people on the road who fully explored the spirit of the World Harmony Run. They almost beat the professional team members with endurance, speed and enthusiasm.

I started with run today, but let me finish with a poem:

Hope Abides

Hope abides; therefore I abide.

Countless frustrations have not cowed me.

I am still alive, vibrant with life.

The black cloud will disappear,

The morning sun will appear once again

In all its supernal glory.

by Sri Chinmoy,

founder of World Harmony Run

happy running wherever you are

Maria

Bulgaria

Forest Park School

It's a very rare situation in my life when I arrive somewhere and there are 600 children clapping and cheering for me( and the rest of the World Harmony Run Team). What a fantastic reception we had a Forest Park School. The entire student body was out in the front parking lot aligned on the drive with tremendous enthusiasm and excitement. Jill Roach gave us a very well researched introduction and a warm greeting. It so great to go to a school which really gets what we are doing out here on the road.

We all introduced ourselves, talked about the run and the importance of harmony. Then we offered the World Harmony Run song to the children, who jumped right in with clapping and singing the parts they learned. It was very exciting and fulfilling to experience all the smiling faces.

Thank you very much Forest Park School, we were overwhelmed with joy by your reception!

Atulya

San Diego

A very nice meeting

After another day on the road, the allure of a hot tub to soothe the legs sent Arpan and myself (Damon) to a Bally’s Total Fitness Club. With much anticipation, we arrived only to find they had no pool or hot tub, but they did have a sauna. Unfortunately, the sauna was out of order that day. Things were certainly not looking too good. As we were sulking with a bit of disappointment, we noticed a bulletin board of news articles about a world class runner who worked there as a trainer. His name is Phillimon Hanneck, originally from Zimbabwe. We waited until he finished talking to some clients and then we approached him to tell him about the World Harmony Run. He was quite inspired and understanding of our philosophy and happily held the torch outside the club. He told us that after the tsunami disaster last year he had wanted to run from New York to San Diego to raise money for the victims. He is a true gentleman and a phenomenal runner. He hopes to run with the torch into South Carolina on Tuesday with us.

Here are some of his best running times:

1500 meter in 3 min. 35 sec.

One mile in 3 min. 46 sec’s.

5000 meter in 13:14

10,000 metres in 27:45

26.2 mile Marathon in 2 hrs. 10 min. 15 sec.

He is an Olympic Silver medalist in the 1500m I believe. He has won many national and world class races since the early 1990’s. We took a few photos in the evening with him holding the torch hoping that he can inspire many people worldwide to create harmony in their own lives, especially through the discipline of running and racing. He certainly is a perfect example of this blending of discipline in sport and a harmonious and self-giving life. Meeting ‘Phil’ truly made a long day on the road a truly memorable and sweet one.

Damon and Arpan

Special Thanks

Thank you from the whole team to the Quality Suites for offering us a terrific place to rest our tired legs.

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